Sutter makes Hall of Fame

Bruce Sutter became only the fourth reliever given baseball's highest honor, gaining election to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

"When the phone call came and the caller ID said 'New York,' I thought, 'Oh, maybe this is it,' " he said.

And when he found out he had made it, Sutter flashed a signal, giving a "thumbs-up" to his wife, sons and daughters-in-law.

"They started screaming," he recalled, "and, actually, I started crying."

Becoming the first pitcher elected to the Hall of Fame with no career starts, the split-finger pioneer was listed on 76.9 percent of the ballots, collecting 400 of a record 520 votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America who have been in the organization for 10 consecutive years or more.

The other players in the Hall who primarily were relievers are Hoyt Wilhelm (elected in 1985), Rollie Fingers (1992) and Dennis Eckersley (2004).

Sutter was a six-time All-Star and the 1979 NL Cy Young Award winner, compiling 300 saves during a 12-season major-league career with the Cubs, St. Louis and Atlanta that ended in 1988. He had a 68-71 record with a 2.83 ERA and was third on the saves list when his career was cut short by a torn rotator cuff--now he's 19th in saves.